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Hive, Nestor Topchy’s “master-planned, artist-centric utopia” is stepping closer to becoming a reality- Lisa Gray reports in the Houston Chronicle that the seven-story dome constructed of shipping containers, housing work space for creatives of every stripe, has submitted a plan to lease/purchase a 10-acre site of bottomland from the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. Gray’s piece outlines the genealogy of the ambitious project, tracing it’s roots back to Topchy’s impromptu art collective at Meaux’s Bayou Compound in Houston in the 1990’s, which spawned bit Rick Lowe’s Project Rowhouses and Jim Pirtle’s notsuoH.

One response to “Hive Swarms Towards Reality: Chron Outlines Its History, and Future”

Our nonprofit HIVE project is indeed ambitious. We have planned a 250,000 square-foot development that will offer very low cost rental apartments and retail and commercial space. There will also be a 700-seat amphitheater and a boat launch. We will offer bike sharing and public facilities for people using the hike-and-bike trail and the bayou. Importantly, we designed HIVE to be constructed with about 500 repurposed steel shipping containers sourced from Houston Ship Channel storage facilities. We are carefully considering our carbon footprint every step of the way, and the entire project is coming together as a community effort. What will really set HIVE apart from other mixed-use developments is the wonderful arts and environmental programming we will offer. HIVE was envisioned as an artists’ village, but it really will be for everyone!